Members

Forum Rules

The RDF Constitution Test

We the people of Radar Detector Forum (RDF), in order to form a more perfect forum community, establish a place for countermeasure enthusiasts to share test results, ideas, experiences and concepts, while at the same time providing information and an open place for new enthusiasts to learn and ensure a fair and open forum with levels of security and access, do ordain and establish this Constitution for RDF.

* There are links to more detailed explanation of staff and judicial duties. No one without access can see it, and it's in the respective SD/Mod/Acceptus section. There are some links that are not accessible by some.

ARTICLE I (Article I - Legislative)

Section 1

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in the administration of RDF and its parts thereof, which shall consist of Security Detachment, Moderators and Acceptus. Each of part (SD/MOD/Acceptus) shall have an Admin Overseer to ensure activity and provide guidance of duties. Administrators can retire (or be requested to if not performing their duties) to an advisory role (or former leadership status) and are usually replaced by staff members (SD/MOD).

Section 2

The RDF Security Detachment, Moderator staff and Acceptus staff shall be comprised of members with advanced status (only exception is Acceptus) and chosen as needed by the administration (Admins). They should be occasionally replaced with members of the RDF community with Advanced status and have a minimum of 1 year forum activity/experience. When and if one needs to step down or have become inactive they should be replaced and are put into the former leadership group and provided a tag.

Admin positions consist of at least 3 active admins, and no more than 5 including the devops admin (xydrine; retried advisors are not included).

SD consists of at least 2 SD (no more than 3) and one Admin Overseer (Job: RDF's security and enforcement).

Mods consist of at least 3 mods (no more than 4) and one Admin Overseer (Job: Moderate, help with day to day form tasks and help answer member's questions).

Acceptus consists of at least 2 Acceptus members (no limit) and one Admin Overseer (Job: Welcome committee is designed to welcome and help newly registering members).

All Admins/Mods/SD must be active within their role, be proactive with their job title duties, and contribute when requested/needed for major forum decisions. It is encouraged to take time off for real life if need be, just let the staff know. It's also important to rotate in new Admin/SD/MOD/Acceptus when needed.

Information on this forum is safeguarded from prying eyes to the best of our realistic abilities. Currently, there are four levels of promotions that are subject to the automated promotion system. All advancements are overseen and activated by the automated advancement system that takes and is based on a combination of activity, useful/helpful posts, post count, and "thanks" received/given.
Please do your best to post sensitive content in the appropriate sections (Intermediate/Advanced; that's what the levels of advancement are for! If unsure ask a Moderator.

Section 2

We have four levels of advancement. This system has worked for us for a long time and has been vital to keeping RDF a great community. These individual levels each grant certain things, laid out by this table:

Section 3

Post count is not a predicate for being promoted to Intermediate or Advanced access, nor are donations.
RDF is run for and by the people. There are no required fees just encouragement of participation and helping one another. Due to this we have in place a donation system, and for those who prefer to gain a little extra by donation, we also have Premium memberships.Premium memberships/donations to keep RDF going:https://www.rdforum.org/showthread.php?t=54015

Section 4
Preferred Vendors:

RDF provides a list of Preferred Vendors which we recommend due to positive experiences our members have had with them, discounts given to forum members, helping out at meets, having great customer service and etc. To become an RDF Preferred Vendor, they must first apply to the RDF staff and then pass a vote held by the RDF leadership (Mod/SD/Admin) on whether they should be granted "preferred" status or not. Majority rules. Linked here: https://www.rdforum.org/showthread.php?t=26015

-

ARTICLE III (Article III - Rules)

Section 1

Forum Rules & Guidelines

As with any forum, RDF has a set of rules which we strive to maintain. These rules cover the whole forum (posts, threads, signatures, avatars, visitor messages, etc). They are as follows:

By registering at RDF, you certify that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age.

#1: By registering as a member of RDF, you acknowledge that you are not employed in any capacity by the following entities:

Any law enforcement agency or department

Any entity that enforces traffic law

Any manufacturer and/or vendor of traffic and/or speed enforcement equipment, and/or any individual or group associated with traffic enforcement in any way

#2: Pornography, objectionable, illegal and any materials deemed offensive are not permitted on RDF. All material posted or linked must be G rated. Please only use language and material suitable for the home or office. Refrain from posting:

Foul language

Racial epithets

Sexually explicit content

Insults or "flaming"

Spoilers for anything without using the spoiler tag (24-hours from TV show air-date requires a spoiler tag)

Trolling

Attacks on individuals

Denigrating references to race, color, creed or sexual preference

Exceptions to any part of this rule will be noted in the description of the section it applies to.

#3: Please report activity which violates any of the rules listed on this page. Although the administrators and moderators do our best to keep objectionable content off of RDF, it is impossible for us to review all content.

#4: Do not post any copyrighted material unless you are the copyright owner, or have permission from the owner. Do not quote an article in its entirety; instead, use a few quotes or an abstract, and a link to the originating article. Any submission to RDF in any form (written, photographs, videos, etc) becomes the property of RDF and retains any copyrights or other rights therein.

#5: No discussion of illegal activity or material is permitted. Linking to a site which deals with illegal activity or material is also not permitted. Additionally, posting information on how to defraud a company, misuse a product or service, or promoting illegal activity will not be tolerated.

#6: Each member may only have one account at RDF. You may not create alternate accounts or use someone else's name. Only in the rarest of circumstances, determined by the administrators, will we honor a name change request.

#7: Please respect the privacy rights of your peers. No posting of pictures, phone numbers, email addresses and etc without their permission.

#8: RDF reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to remove a user's privilege to post or read content on our website. RDF reserves the right to edit or delete a member's topic or reply if the content violates policies listed on this page, or at the discretion of an administrator or moderator. Members who are temporarily suspended or banned who re-register with a new account will have all of their accounts deactivated without notice, and will be permanently banned from RDF.

#9A: The resources of RDF are not to be used as a means to attack or harass any individual or group. The rules listed on this page apply to private messages as well.

#9B: Members with commercial interests on RDF, including but not limited to manufacturers, vendors, distributors, shall not or attempt to: attack, harass, talk negatively of, or discredit the reputation or product of another vendor - competing or not. A zero tolerance policy will be referenced in enforcing this rule. Any member of the defined class determined to be in violation of this rule will receive an infraction.

#10: Please do not post the same topic in multiple forums.

#11: If a member has any incentive to promote products (via direct compensation, discounted products or services, etc) from any business, individual or entity, it must be disclosed in any posts by the member wherever they choose to promote their product or service on our forum. Additionally, anyone wishing to promote a product or service under the aforementioned parameters must obtain permission from one of RDF's administrators first.

#12: It is an imperative to post content in the appropriate sections for discussion. Intermediate and Advanced sections are designed to protect content and should be used to do so. Do not post Advanced/Intermediate type discussions in General or Beginner. If unsure please PM a Moderator.

#13: Any member who acts, behaves or conducts him or herself in a manner which harms or could potentially harm RDF or this community is subject to an infraction or loss of privileges. Examples of conduct which violates this rule include, but are not limited to:

Manipulating testing to falsely prove one product or service is better than another

Intentionally posting false or misrepresenting information on RDF or any other website

Collaborating with any entity listed in rule #1 which could educate them on how to defeat our equipment

Testing equipment with any entity listed in rule #1

Intentionally testing with and/or jamming-to/from-gun (JTG/JFG) any entity listed in rule #1, and/or any entity whose primary purpose is other than testing

#14: All decisions made by the administrators and moderators are final.

#15: Post padding (the act of posting many pointless posts to raise their post count) is not allowed. Anyone caught post padding will have their posts removed and will be given either a warning or infraction.

#16: Please do not request to be bumped up in access. In all honesty, it does not take much effort to obtain the next level of access here at RDF. Contribute positively and you will be noticed. If you are an old-timer from another countermeasure forum, please mention which forum and what your username is there, and we will take that into account when we make our decision to promote you or not.

#17: RDF reserves the right to change these rules at any time with or without notice.

It is encouraged to respect one another's opinions and to be civil to one another. We are here to share knowledge, learn and be part of a greater community. Members earn levels of advancement which are voted on and discussed from Intermediate up to Advanced. Members should not be demoted at will, they have earned their status/level (Int/Adv), it is theirs to do what they will as long as it does not jeopardize the security of that advancement and follows the rules of the forum. Any demotions should be discussed and voted on in the same manner as advancement. We should always try to correct any issues by discussing with the member and/or utilizing the infraction system.

Section 2

Bannings and infractions (to be enforced by SD/Mods/Admin as a team).

These are general guidelines, but the RDF Staff will assign infractions/points based on the severity of the offense.

Infractions are to be used as a learning tool and not necessarily as a harsh punishment. All Infractions including temp bans should be accompanied by a PM explaining the reason and correction of action. All point infractions are discussed with Mods/SD and Admin as a team to determine its the correct action.

All infractions/bans need to be done in a teaching and increasingly severe way. Can add up to an automatic ban if a member accumulates too many.

Section 3

First offence:1 - PM member explaining the unacceptable behavior and encourage better behavior.

Second Offence: 2 - 0 point infraction, reiterating the unacceptable behavior. Infraction should also note the reason to enforce and show what is not acceptable. This and all infractions forward are posted here: https://www.rdforum.org/forumdisplay.php?f=63 reason for the infraction should be stated for full disclosure and so others can learn from others mistakes.

Third offence or rule broken:3 - 3 point infraction (2 day ban) to be used for more clear rule violations, and ideally after 1 & 2 have not shown results. Also PM and Infraction should also note the reason. Discuss with Mods/SD to determine.

Fourth offence or major rule broken, cooling off time etc:4 - 7 point infraction (7 day ban) to be used for clear rule violations, and ideally after 1, 2 & 3 have not shown results. Also PM and Infraction should also note the reason. Discuss with Mods/SD to determine.

Permanent ban.5 - 10 point infraction to be used only after a Grand Jury decides it's just and their decision is final. There are exceptions like spammers and the like (LEO's etc...). As well as clear and blatant intentions to hurt RDF and the community (admin group decision). * Grand Jury: https://www.rdforum.org/forumdisplay.php?f=113

5a: Permanent ban Grand Jury jury-style ban review system. What this means is, for all non-spammer related bans and minor teaching infractions, a jury of 5 members/peers (Intermediate and Advanced only) will be selected to either confirm or deny a person from being banned. Jurors will be selected at random from the pool of active members, and they will have the ability to see why a ban is being proposed, debate the ban, and ultimately vote whether or not the individual in question deserved the ban. Information for the ban will be given by the SD as well as and pertinent parties and the SD Admin/Admins will post for the jury to decide (Note: must stay neutral but informational).

After a Mod+ introduces a series of infractions/warnings to support a permanent ban of a member, the Commission will convene to determine the merit of a permanent ban.

Voters (Peers/members) will be randomly selected and will be on call for ~1 year.

All 5 members must vote (or random active replacements will be chosen as needed).

Majority 3 out of 5 vote is quorum.

Ban terms can be from a month to indefinite.

Deliberations are only visible to admins and jury members.

Appointments must stay secret during term.

Evidence will be collected by SD and Mods and will be introduced to the Jury by SD Admin/Admins.

No appealing per se, but defendant is allowed to tell their side of the story prior to the final decision.

The commission is encouraged to consider the defendant's entire record and offense when making a decision.

Administrator Impeachment - In the event it becomes necessary to impeach and remove an administrator from service, another administrator must bring charges against the administrator in question to the Jury for a vote.

Both sides have 3 days to present their case. Other administrators may add evidence and provide testimony.

The quorum is a 2/3rd majority vote with no less than 4 votes by jury members.

The voting period shall be exactly 3 days and decisions are effective at the expiration of the poll.

Should the losing side disagree with the poll, they have 2 days to demand an appeal. Appealed cases shall be put forth before the pool of moderators and SD.

The pool of mods & SD will have 3 days to vote on the same evidence presented before the jury. The quorum is a 2/3rd majority vote with no less than 5 votes by moderators & SD.

Once members of The Commission have been selected, its function will begin immediately.

Minor infractions should be used to teach, and in general, are not overly looked down upon. However, as infraction points accumulate, they can lead to a temporary or permanent ban. There may be instances when infractions 1 & 2 may be waived, but before doing so, it should be voted on/discussed with all Mods/SD.

Section 5

An amendment may be proposed to the Constitution either by the Mods/SD/Admin with a two-thirds majority vote by Admin/SD/Mod or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of active Intermediate and Advanced members.

-

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the People consisting of Admins/Moderators/SD present the Ninth Day of May in the Year of our Lord two-thousand and seventeen, and of the Independence of RDF the Twelve in witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
Xydrine of DevOps
Kasher1979 of SD
Vortex of PR
Andrew21 of Chief of Staff
CJR238 of CMS
v1user of Advisor
Thejm of SD
Dukes of SD
Coawlt2010 Of Mod